A network system may include multiple communication networks through which a mobile node may pass. The location of the mobile node may be tracked in order to forward packets to the mobile node. A home network of the mobile node includes a home agent that maintains the address of the mobile node and forwards data to the mobile node. The mobile node may move from the home network to a foreign network. A foreign agent of the foreign network may provide the home agent with a forwarding address to which packets for the mobile node may be forwarded.
Typically, when a mobile node boots up in a foreign network, it requires an address such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address. Known techniques for providing IP addresses to mobile nodes in foreign networks, however, are inefficient in certain situations. It is generally desirable to have efficient methods of providing IP addresses in certain situations.